musings about Washington, DC, and anywhere, and anything else (politics, food, the environment...)

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

We're Number One!

There are some lists that, well, you don't want to be at the top of. Unfortunately, America is at the top of one such heap, in that Americans own more guns than citizens of any other nation, according to a study by the Small Arms Survey. Woo-hoo! Considering the historically high levels of violence plaguing this country, to which guns contribute more than a bit, I regret not being able to make a rally at a local gun store, just over the line from D.C., a store which is a source of many of the guns used in shootings in Washington. (As handguns are illegal in D.C. itself.) I wonder, do county police stake this store, to see, and stop gun buyers with D.C. license plates that return to D.C.? Greater city-county police cooperation might reduce the amount of crime in this part of the Washington metropolitan area. (Or at least, better police cooperation might have saved me from having to waste time in D.C. traffic court, in which I finally beat a ticket stemming from a license plate stolen from my car, which someone was seen driving in D.C.)

Not a pretty shade of green...

Here we go again--another bagged spinach recall, but this time, the microbial culprit is salmonella, generally associated with subpar chicken. Now, I haven't eaten bagged spinach since the last recall (hate to be so blase!) because, when you think about it, eating a raw food that's been sealed in the condensation-producing environment of the plastic bag is, frankly, an open invitation to the microscopic beasties to party in your intestines.